Tagged: Shaun Marcum

Shaun Marcum was one of my favourite Blue Jays. He threw strikes, he battled, he is a gold glove calibre defender (was a shortstop in college) and a leader in the clubhouse. So needless to say, it’s tough to see him go. Thanks for everything Shaun and all the best in Milwaukee.

That being said, I like this deal. In return, the Blue Jays get the Brewers’ top prospect, Brett Lawrie. Lawrie, a Canadian, is a second baseman but the Fan 590’s Mike Wilner reports that the Jays see him more as a third baseman. Baseball America notes his defence at second is suspect and that he projects to a possible corner outfield slot. He’ll play 2011 in Triple A Las Vegas but could be in the Jays line-up come 2012. So another high level prospect to add to the system to accompany Drabek, D’Arnaud, Hechevarria, Gose, McGuire etc.

Giving up Marcum will hurt in 2011 but as Shaun Marcum himself will admit, he doesn’t have the greatest stuff. He has a below average fastball (tops out at 87 mph) but makes up for it with an above average change-up. He’ll be 29 years old next week and would be a free agent following the 2012 season. Do I think the Jays were actively shopping him? No. What I think is that the Brewers needed pitching and the Jays had their eye on Lawrie and it was going to cost them Marcum to get him. Of their starting rotation, the Jays were not going to give up Morrow, Romero or Cecil and I doubt they would get much of anything in return for either Litsch or Rzepcynski so Marcum was the player to go. So unless the Blue Jays aren’t done dealing the starting rotation looks something like this:

Romero

Morrow

Cecil

Drabek

Litsch or Rzepcynski

There were rumours floating around that the Blue Jays were interested in acquiring Zack Greinke from Kansas City but the reported asking price was Travis Snider and Kyle Drabek. That’s a steep price for Greinke and doesn’t seem consistent with Alex Anthopolous’ vision for making this team a perennial contender. Buster Olney of ESPN “tweeted” today that the opinion among GMs around MLB is that Kansas City will start with a steep asking price for Greinke and gradually lessen their demands until they get a ‘yes’ from someone. They believe that Greinke will be dealt this winter.

And how about that Jason Werth deal with the Nationals! WOW! I couldn’t believe that news when I heard about it yesterday. To me this is going to be a huge mistake for Washington. That’s a lot of dollars and a lot of years for Jason Werth. There is no way he’s going to live up to that contract. Maybe he should have given Vernon Wells a call before signing this deal. I forsee many years of Mr. Werth getting blamed for tying up a large chunk of the Nationals’ payroll and under performing!

I’m anxious to hear all the rumours coming out of the Winter Meetings. Hopefully there will be some more trades of significance and some interesting free agent signings to discuss.